Community Involvement

Fundamentally, we would like our core business to be sustainable – but we are also committed to social causes. As far as possible, we support both local and international aid projects. For example, Deuter donated €10,000 towards the construction of a school in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. No matter how big or small, one thing is true of all these projects: they are administered by organisations or people whom we trust 100%, because we have established a friendly partnership with them over many years.

Here too, we refer back to our corporate values. Deuter is an authentic and reliable brand! That is why we are always happy to provide help and support to people with whom we have built up a trusting partnership. This means we can rely on the fact that the financial and material help we provide is in good hands and goes directly to those that need it.

Nepal

Whether on an expedition, a trekking holiday or a mountain biking trip, many people have taken their Deuter packs and sleeping bags to the small Himalayan country of Nepal.

But this is not just a country of numerous 8,000 metre peaks and other wonderful sights – Nepal is also one of the poorest countries on Earth. In this land at the foot of Mount Everest, illiteracy rates run at an incredible 60%! The Nepalhilfe Beilngries charity has been helping the people of Nepal, in particular the children, for many years now. They are also supported by the successful extreme mountaineering couple Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits. Currently they are helping to raise funds for a big school project. Built in 1946, the Shanti Nikunja Higher Secondary School was one of the first schools in the country. These days, it houses 850 pupils over three floors. But the building is in a very sorry state and needs to be completely rebuilt. The estimated cost of this is € 70,000. Because state funding is minimal and otherwise compulsory school fees have been exempted, Deuter has decided to finance it with Nepalhilfe Beilngries acting as project manager. €10,000 of start-up funds have already been handed over and in 2012 we will be giving the school another €10,000.

Japan

Like people the world over, we were shocked by the tsunami and the natural and nuclear disasters that ensued.

Our connection to this Asian country runs even deeper than the longstanding partnership with our Japanese importers Iwatani-Primus. Like Thomas Hilger, whose mother comes from Tokyo, many of our colleagues have family and friends in Japan. It became clear to us that, as a sleeping bag manufacturer, we could provide effective help. So, together with our Chinese sleeping bag producers, we quickly sent 1,600 sleeping bags to Japan. Iwatani-Primus then handed them over to relief workers who then distributed them directly to those in the most affected areas who had lost their homes.

Around the World in 100 days

In 2011, adventurer Joachim Franz and his expedition entourage – equipped with Deuter rucksacks – travelled to all five continents on the “aids awareness expedition 2011” with the motto “Move the world”. Their aim was to raise awareness about AIDS and to encourage people to push ahead in the fight against AIDS and HIV and not give up on the struggle with the biggest threat that faces mankind. The facts and figures are alarming: over 33 million people are carrying the HIV virus and in 2009 1.8 million people died of AIDS. The fate of the people behind these figures is desperate.

The tour has already come to an end but the fundraising continues. The hope is to fund education and training centres throughout the world in their work with HIV/AIDS patients. The fundraising project “Join in! We are moving the World!” will run to the end of 2013.